Heat Advisory In Effect for Multiple Counties August 17th-19th
Photo Credit: The National Weather Service
By Cole Goodwin
The National Weather Service has announced that a heat advisory is in effect for much of North-eastern Oregon and South-eastern Washington from Wednesday, August 17th to Friday August 19th.
Temperatures in The Dalles are expected to reach 104 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday. It’s also possible that a thunderstorm may take place in the Gorge on Wednesday evening due to high clouds. If the thunderstorm happens, temperatures will likely not reach the highs expected for the following days. Friday sees a cool down of 97 degrees.
Temperuatures are then predicted to go up again, reaching highs of 100 degrees on Saturday and 99 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday.
Temperatures of 90 to 105 degrees can be dangerous for wildlife as well as the young, elderly, or dehydrated who are at higher risk to experience heat related illnesses such as heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke.
The public is advised to take precautions during the heat advisory when working outdoors, such as staying out of the sun and drinking plenty of water.
The public is also advised not to leave children, eldery adults, or pets unattended in vehicles.
Generally surface temperatures can get much higher than air temperatures. For example: asphalt can reach temperatures forty to sixty degrees hotter than the air temperature. So on a 100 degree day, asphalt that’s in direct sun can reach temperatures of 160 degrees. Urban areas are especially dangerous during heatwaves as paving materials trap up to 90% of solar radiation, causing temperatures in paved areas without trees to reach much higher temperatures than wooded areas.
After just one hour the average in-car temperuature can easily reach 43 degrees higher than the outdoor temperature. And after 90- minutes that temperature can rise to 48 degrees higher than the outside temperature.
That means that on a 100 degree day, temperatures in a car can reach an incredible 148 degrees. To put that in perspective, the highest temperature ever recorded outdoors on earth is 134 degrees fahrenheit at Furnace Creek Ranch in Death Valley California.
Is that hot enough to fry an egg?
Actually…yes, it is.
Many years ago Bill Nye the science guy did an experiment that discovered that you can fry an egg at 130 degrees in about twenty minutes.
Additional Resources:
For more information about Emergency Cooling Centers in the Gorge click here.
For more information about the signs of heat-related illnesses click here.
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